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Drought in East Africa

Photos: IRC

More than 13 million people are still in urgent need of food and assistance after the worst drought to hit East Africa in 60 years. The International Rescue Committee has worked in East Africa since the 1990s. Today, we deliver lifesaving aid to hundreds of thousands of people in some of the most desperate locations in three countries across the region.

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How We Help

In refugee camps in Dadaab, northeastern Kenya, we provide new arrivals with medical screenings and assistance and give fortified food to malnourished young children. Our doctors and nurses treat some 500 refugees daily.

In Ethiopia, we are trucking in water and installing water-supply systems in camps currently housing over 100,000 Somali refugees. We are also providing 285,000 Ethiopians in three regions with water, sanitation, hygiene and livestock assistance.

In central Somalia, we are providing water to hard-hit communities and conducting livelihoods programs for nearly 80,000 people.

In the Turkana region of Kenya, the IRC’s extensive aid efforts include nutritional programs for 70,000 malnourished children under age five.

The IRC is supporting the efforts of the Kenyan government and the World Food Program to deliver food where it is most needed.

We partnered with Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment on their We Can Be Heroes Campaign, where they used their beloved Justice League characters (such as Superman, Wonder Woman, and Batman) helping to raise over $1.6 million and extend support to over 1.8 million people in the region.

On a recent visit to Kenya, I met with refugees in a densely populated urban area in Nairobi and in the Dadaab refugee camp. Many told me they would like to return to Somalia one day, but only when it is peaceful and stable.

In FOCUS: SOMALIA

The IRC's Peter Biro reports on the crisis in Somalia, a country devastated by conflict and the worst drought in 60 years. As a result of the violence, hundreds of thousands of people are displaced inside Somalia with little access to humanitarian aid. Learn how the IRC is helping uprooted families survive.